May 7th, 2021
by Mike DePope
by Mike DePope
Sunday is Mother’s Day, so I thought I would give you a little history on this holiday (one that started, believe it or not, in a Methodist Church!).
In 1908, Anna Jarvis coordinated the first Mother’s Day celebration at a local Methodist Church in West Virginia. She originally thought of the idea as a way to honor her own mother who had died a few years earlier. Soon she decided that honoring mothers should be a nationwide holiday. After that first celebration, she began to write letters and lobby states and even the federal government to make Mother’s Day a holiday. In just a few years, every state began to celebrate it, and in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day an official holiday.
But, here is where the story gets good. Within a decade, Hallmark and other businesses saw an opportunity to capitalize on this new holiday. They began to sell cards, encourage prepackaged gifts of flowers and candy, and the holiday was commercialized. Anna Jarvis was outraged. She thought that Mother’s Day should be celebrated with handwritten notes, gestures of service, and authentic acts of connection. Buying gifts and prewritten cards cut against the original intent. By the end of her life, Anna Jarvis was so frustrated that she regularly protested Mother’s Day celebrations and worked for the abolition of the holiday. In fact, at one point she was arrested for disturbing the peace during the celebration of the very holiday she worked so hard to begin.
I love that story because it encapsulates the feelings so many have about Mother’s Day. On the one hand, it is a wonderful day to celebrate the mothers in our lives who have given so much of themselves. On the other hand, it points to some of the complicated feelings many have about the day. For some it is a day of remembering and grieving. Some of us have “complicated” relationships with our moms. Others of us want to be parents and have yet to realize that hope. Maybe some of us, like Anna, just don’t like the commercialization.
But, the root of the day is recognizing those women in our lives that have contributed to who we are. We never practice gratitude enough, especially for significant people in our lives. So today, say thank you to your mom or any woman who has played a significant role in your life. If your mother is no longer with us, say a prayer of thanksgiving to God. And if you forgot to buy a card…write a handwritten note, and tell your mom it is what Anna would have wanted.
Peace,
In 1908, Anna Jarvis coordinated the first Mother’s Day celebration at a local Methodist Church in West Virginia. She originally thought of the idea as a way to honor her own mother who had died a few years earlier. Soon she decided that honoring mothers should be a nationwide holiday. After that first celebration, she began to write letters and lobby states and even the federal government to make Mother’s Day a holiday. In just a few years, every state began to celebrate it, and in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day an official holiday.
But, here is where the story gets good. Within a decade, Hallmark and other businesses saw an opportunity to capitalize on this new holiday. They began to sell cards, encourage prepackaged gifts of flowers and candy, and the holiday was commercialized. Anna Jarvis was outraged. She thought that Mother’s Day should be celebrated with handwritten notes, gestures of service, and authentic acts of connection. Buying gifts and prewritten cards cut against the original intent. By the end of her life, Anna Jarvis was so frustrated that she regularly protested Mother’s Day celebrations and worked for the abolition of the holiday. In fact, at one point she was arrested for disturbing the peace during the celebration of the very holiday she worked so hard to begin.
I love that story because it encapsulates the feelings so many have about Mother’s Day. On the one hand, it is a wonderful day to celebrate the mothers in our lives who have given so much of themselves. On the other hand, it points to some of the complicated feelings many have about the day. For some it is a day of remembering and grieving. Some of us have “complicated” relationships with our moms. Others of us want to be parents and have yet to realize that hope. Maybe some of us, like Anna, just don’t like the commercialization.
But, the root of the day is recognizing those women in our lives that have contributed to who we are. We never practice gratitude enough, especially for significant people in our lives. So today, say thank you to your mom or any woman who has played a significant role in your life. If your mother is no longer with us, say a prayer of thanksgiving to God. And if you forgot to buy a card…write a handwritten note, and tell your mom it is what Anna would have wanted.
Peace,
Recent
It's time for EasterSTL at The Factory // M-Note 3.28.24
March 28th, 2024
Entourage Discussion Guide - Week 5
March 24th, 2024
Can You Know Joy Without Pain? // M-Note 3.23.24
March 23rd, 2024
Entourage Discussion Guide - Week 4
March 17th, 2024
How serving at Easter can really make a difference // M-Note 3.16.24
March 15th, 2024
Archive
2024
January
Clean Slate: Week 1 Discussion GuideStarting & Sustaining Change // M-Note 1.6.24Clean Slate: Week 2 Discussion GuideStarting Small, Dreaming Big // M-Note 1.13.24Clean Slate: Week 3 Discussion GuideTogether Towards Change...and Healthy Habits // M-Note 1.20.24Clean Slate: Week 4 Discussion GuideSlowing Down for God to Show Up // M-Note 1.27.24
February
More Isn't Always Better // M-Note 2.3.24Money Talks: Week 1 Discussion GuideAshes for Valentine's Day? // M-Note 2.10.24Money Talks: Week 2 Discussion GuideLenten Devotional 2024Money Talks: Week 3 Discussion GuideWhat's your legacy? // M-Note 2.17.24Strength in Numbers: Community in Ministry // M-Note 2.24.24Entourage Discussion Guide - Week One
March
Entourage Discussion Guide - Week TwoUpdates from Clayton and Easter Invitation // M-Note 3.2.24Twenty Students Confirmed Last Sunday // M-Note 3.9.24Entourage Discussion Guide - Week 3How serving at Easter can really make a difference // M-Note 3.16.24Entourage Discussion Guide - Week 4Can You Know Joy Without Pain? // M-Note 3.23.24Entourage Discussion Guide - Week 5It's time for EasterSTL at The Factory // M-Note 3.28.24
2023
January
February
Explore - Week 1Explore - Week 2Explore - Week 3Explore - Week 4God is Leading Us Forward // M-Note 2.3.23SENT: Week 1 Discussion GuideSomething To Try This Weekend // M-Note 2.10.23SENT: Week 2 Discussion GuideWe're Doing Something Big! // M-Note 2.17.23SENT: Week 3 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 1Lent Devotional Day 2Lent Devotional Day 3SENT: Week 4 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 4Lent Devotional Day 5Lent Devotional Day 6Lent Devotional Day 7
March
Lent Devotional Day 8Lent Devotional Day 9Celebrating BEYOND // M-Note 3.3.2023Who Is Jesus: BONUS Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 10Lent Devotional Day 11Lent Devotional Day 12Who Is Jesus: Week 1 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 13Lent Devotional Day 14Lent Devotional Day 15Lent Devotional Day 16Lent Devotional Day 17The Evening Service is BACK!!! // M-Note 3.10.23Lent Devotional Day 18Lent Devotional Day 19Who Is Jesus: Week 2 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 20Lent Devotional Day 21Lent Devotional Day 22Lent Devotional Day 23The Most Important Sunday of the Year // M-Note 3.17.23Who Is Jesus: Week 3 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 24Lent Devotional Day 25Lent Devotional Day 26Lent Devotional Day 27Lent Devotional Day 28Lent Devotional Day 29Lent Devotional Day 30The Power of Easter and Invitation // M-Note 3.24.23Lent Devotional Day 31Who Is Jesus: Week 4 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 32Lent Devotional Day 33Lent Devotional Day 34Lent Devotional Day 35Lent Devotional Day 36Lent Devotional Day 37You Can't Miss This Part // M-Note 4.1.23Lent Devotional Day 38
Categories
Tags
1 Kings 3
1 Kings
1 Timothy
2 Corinthians 9:5-7
2 Timothy
Belden Lane
Beyond Simple
Celebrate
Change
Christ
Commit
Confidence
Denee Bowers
Devotional
Discussion Guides
Distractions
Divine Love
Doubt
Easter
Ephesians
Equity
Evangelism
Explore
Five Shared Practices
Focus
Frederick Buechner
Fresh Take
Friends
Generosity
God
Gratitude
Hebrews
Holy Ambiguity
Holy Spirit
Hope
Humanity
Identity
Inside Voice
Isaiah
Jesus
John 21
John
Joy
Kids
King Solomon
Lectio Divina
Lent
Life
Limitations
Longing
M-Note
Matt Miofsky
Matthew
Nadia Bolz-Weber
No Filter
Open
Parables
Parenting
Patience
Paula D'Arcy
Paula D\'Arcy
Paula D\\\'Arcy
Paula D\\\\\\\'Arcy
Paul
Privilege
Proverbs 1
Proverbs
Psalms
Purpose
Questions
Redeem
Rejoice
Righteousness
Sabra Engelbrecht
Second Chance
Self-Love
Struggle
Success
The Bible
The Church
The Gathering
Timothy
Uncertainty
Untethered
Vision
Weird
acts
adulting
advice
challenge
commitment
creation
deconstruction
deconstruct
faith
finances
fitness
forgiveness
forgiving
foundation
freedom
give
growth
kelley weber
love
meister eckhart
money
mystery
new life
opportunity
reconstruction
reconstruct
redemption
relationships
responsibility
simplify
sin
social
thomas merton
transition
truth
willingness
willpower
will
young adult
No Comments